Introdution

Hello, my name is Matt and I have moved across the midlands to Leicester from a small rural city called Hereford. It’s quite an idyllic place, sometimes looking suspiciously similar to middle earth’s shire, but it’s good now to be in a city with things happening at the weekends! I choose the GA course because it seemed the direct train to the dream job. My other choices were Illustration courses at various universities with the plan to move from illustration into game art or concept art for films. I have always been a drawer/ painter, art I found to be an underlying passion that very quickly became obsessive. I am also a huge film fanatic. My old housemate and I used to collect films, buying 2-5 films every week. After a year it starts to look more like a library! This first year for me is about meeting the deadlines and getting professional about my work. I am really hoping to try and develop a recognisable drawing style too. My sketch book is packed with imitated styles from awesome artists of the past, but I‘m now wanting to create my own much more unique style. I have had my eyes set on becoming a concept artist, background artist or visual artist for quite some time now. I am not too sure whether I would prefer to work in the film or game industry; I think I need guidance with my tutors on this.

Here are a few possible job titles I have found:

Layout Artists, “responsible for the staging and set up of each shot. Layout Artists should demonstrate a strong sense of place and environment and be well-versed in principles of cinematography. Attention to perspective and composition is critical in developing a variety of environments for characters to live in”. disneyanimation.com/careers

Concept Artist “The concept artist’s role is demanding and pressurised which is offset by a great deal of creative freedom and reward”Blitzgamesstudios.com.

Visual Development Artist,“Visually explore a concept, which may include Character Design and/or Environment Design for animated films, short and special projects. Visual Development Artists will experiment with the diverse elements of film presentation to manipulate dramatic story moments, plot thrusts, moods, character conflict and place-time motifs to capture the emotional connection to the story's theme. A rich imagination, a sense of caricature and design, strong colour sense, a mastery of human and animal anatomy, architecture, the ability to work in different mediums and the versatility to conceptualize visually in a variety of techniques are required. Children's book illustration, fine art and/or illustration skills are a plus”. disneyanimation.com/careers

Background/Matte Painters, “Create the final environment for our characters to live in. A strong sense of design and compositing, colour and proportion is essential in developing 2D and 3D backgrounds”. disneyanimation.com/careers

2D work seems to be my forte but I am excited to learn the famous 3DS and Maya! “Advanced skills in one or more of the standard industry 3D packages essential. Knowledge of 3DS Max an advantage”. jobs.rockstargames.com. Anyway, so as not to be boring I have included a link to a wicked website. There is a huge amount of interesting but irrelevant talks and lectures, but occasionally you come across a sparkling new idea or piece of tech, so take the time to look around.